Page 401 - CHRISTIE'S Chinese Ceramics & Works of Art 09/14 - 15 / 17
P. 401
ANOTHER PROPERTY
1279
A RARE PAIR OF CLAIR-DE-LUNE-GLAZED VASES
JURENTANG ZHI FOUR-CHARACTER SEAL MARK IN UNDERGLAZE BLUE, REPUBLIC PERIOD
Each vase is decorated with a band of archaistic masks on the shoulder and two bow-string hands on the splayed foot, and is covered
overall with a pale sky-blue glaze pooling to a slightly darker shade in the recesses.
11æ in. (29.8 cm.) high (2)
$20,000-30,000
(mark)
The hall mark Jurentang, ‘Hall of Dwelling in Benevolence’, belonged to Yuan Shikai (1859-1916). He became president of the new
Republic in 1912 and took up residence in the Jurentang, which he renamed from the original Haiyantang, in the Forbidden City.
During his presidency, Yuan established himself as the Emperor and held the very short-lived Hongxian reign in 1916, which lasted
for only 83 days.
According to Geng Baochang, Yuan ordered a group of monochrome porcelains in the early days of his reign. He allegedly had
intended for this group to be made in imitation of the exquisite Ru ware of the Song dynasty, but eventually demanded they be
made after the Ru-type celadon-glazed wares of the Yongzheng and Qianlong periods, hoping it would bode well for his dynasty.
Examples of Jurentang-marked monochrome porcelain appear to be very rare, although a few examples can be found in museum
and private collection. A pair of sky-blue-glazed gu-form vases with taotie-mask decoration and underglaze-blue Jurentang marks
is in the collection of the Tianjin Museum and illustrated in Tianjin bo wu guan cang ci, Tianjin, 2012, no. 206. Another sky-blue-
glazed beaker with archaistic decoration, and also with an underglaze-blue Jurentang mark, is in the collection of Mark Chou and
illustrated by M. Chou in A Discourse on Hong Hsien Porcelain, Niles, Illinois, 1987, p. 46.
民國 天青釉仿古紋尊一對 「居仁堂製」篆書款
393
